Annie Bahneman of Stillwater, Minn., was exposed to the Naegleria fowleri amoeba, known as the 'brain-eating amoeba' in a lake near her home and died in 2010 at age 7.

Written by

Elizabeth Weise
USATODAY

Bridget Bahneman lost her daughter to an illness that wasn't supposed to exist as far north as Minnesota. Seven-year-old Annie's brain was destroyed by an amoeba called Naegleria fowleri that she was exposed to while swimming in a lake near their house.

The "brain-eating amoeba" lives in fresh water and proliferates when temperatures reach the 80s. It infects people by entering the nose and reaching the brain.

It can't be transmitted by drinking infected water, only when it is pushed far up into the nose, often but not always from diving or wake boarding, says Jeremy Lewis of Arlington, ...